Railway conveying and unloading structure



Nov. 30, 1965 R. E. JONES RAILWAY CONVEYING AND UNLOADING STRUCTURE Filed June 22. 1961 h FIGI FIGZ

9 Sheets-Sheet l JNVENTOR.

ROBERT E. JONES i BYS M A TTORNE YS Nov. 30, 1965 R. E. JONES 3,220,355

RAILWAY CONVEYING AND UNLOADING STRUCTURE Filed June 22. 1961 9 Sheets-Sheet 2 R. ROBERT E. JONES A TTORNE YS Nov. 30, 1965 R. E. JoNr-:s

RAILWAY CONVEYING AND UNLOADING STRUCTURE Filed June 22. 1961 9 Sheets-Sheet 5 ROBERT E. JONES A TTORNEYL':`

5 Nov. 3o, 1965 R. E. JONES 322,355

RAILWAY CONVEYING AND UNLOADING STRUCTURE Filed June 22. 1961 9 Sheets-Sheet 5 www I\ JNVENTOR. ROBERT E. JONES A TTORNE YS NOV- 30, 1965 R. E. JONES ,220,355

RAILWAY CONVEYING AND UNLOADING STRUCTURE Filed June 22, 1961 9 Sheets-Sheet 6 lOl I ID3 F l G. JNVENTOR.

'2 ROBERT E. JONES A TTORNE YS R. E. JONES RAILWAY CONVEYING AND UNLOADING STRUCTURE Filed June 22, 1961 Nov. 3o, 1965 9 Sheets-Sheet '7 lIN VEN TOR. ROBERT E. JONES m- OPL A TTORN E YS.

i Nov. 30, 1965 R. E. .JONES RAILWAY CONVEYING AND UNLOADING STRUCTURE Filed June 22, 1961 JNVENTOR. ROBERT E. JONES nl @f TTORNEYS.

t Nov. 30, 1965 R. E.. JoNEs 3,220,355

RAILWAY CONVEYING AND UNLOADING STRUCTURE Filed June 22. 1961 9 Sheets-Sheet 9 169 .VIII/l1. rif/ll V [O9 FIG I5 IN VEN TOR. ROBERT E. JONES www A TTORNE YS.

United States Patent O M 3,220,355 RALWAY CNVEYHNG AND UNLQADNG STRUCTURE Robert E. Jones, Knoxville, Tenn., assgnor to Sanford- Day Corporation, a corporation of Tennessee Filed .lune 22, 1961, Ser. No. 118,835 16 Claims. (Cl. lim-29) The present invention relates to an improved drop bottom car and track assembly of the type employing opentopped railroad cars having bottom doors designed for automatic release to discharge lading through the bottom of the car at a dumping station.

Cars of this type are usually used as mine cars, and are moved in trains over track from a loading station to a dumping station such as a storage pit or bin. At the dumping station, the tracks pass over the pit or bin and the usual ties between the rails are omitted. Automatic latch release mechanism is provided on the approach side of the dumping station, and the bottom doors of the cars are thus unlatched as they enter the dumping station. The doors then swing down between the rails and the lading falls into the pit or bin. On the other side of the dumping station, the doors are automatically swung back up to closed position and relatched. ln this way, it is possible to move cars continuously and uninterruptedly through a dumping station.

Obviously, however, the width of the drop bottom doors is limited by the distance between the rails, that is, the track gage, in the dumping station. Mine track is ordinarily relatively narrow gage, so that the doors are also relatively narrow. This limits the carrying capacity of the mine cars, since the doors comprise substantially the entire bottoms of cars of this type. In an elort to increase capacity, it is a common practice to incline the sideV walls of the cars upwardly outward away from each other. This practice gives electively greater width in the car, but it is of only limited usefulness, for the sides cannot usefully be ared out beyond the angle of repose ot the material. Also, the combination of llared sides and a relatively narrow bottom tends to cause the material to bridge across and clog the open bottom of the car.

Nor is it a full solution to the problem to increase the height of the sides of the car, for the low headroom encountered in mines sharply limits the height of such cars. Thus, neither increasing the width nor increasing the height of cars having narrow bottoms provides a suitable solution to the problem of limited lading capacity.

The solution of the problem requires wider drop bottom doors, and such doors, in turn, require wider gage track. It is impractical to widen mine track gage generally, but it is possible and practical to widen the track gage in the dumping station itself. By this arrangement, the wheel gage of the cars remains narrow, but the track gage is substantially increased in the dumping station, so that the car traverses the dumping station on some portion of its structure other than the wheels. The width of the drop bottom doors may be increased almost to this increased track gage, so that the door width is greater than the wheel gage. With this construction, the width of the drop bottom doors is limited only by the width of the car, and vertical car side walls may be used for greatly increased lading capacity and for carrying chunks of material of a size larger than the track gage.

Such wide door arrangements are broadly old in this art. For example, Patent No. 1,889,066 of November 29, 1932 discloses an arrangement in which mine cars move over relatively narrow gage track to a dumping station and are then carried across the dumping station on relatively wide gage track means in the form of a series of power driven rollers.

3,2Z,355 Patented Nov.. 30, i965 However, the prior art arrangements for widening the doors of drop bottom mine cars have suered from a number of disadvantages. For example, devices of this type have not heretofore made adequate provision for shifting the weight of the loaded vehicle from the wheels to another portion of the vehicle. As a result, the weight of the loaded car has been imposed on portions of the car unsuited tol bear it. Moreover, the increased capacity of cars of these types has thrown an increased load on the door mounting structure, but no suitable construction has heretofore been devised for bearing this increased load.

Furthermore, previous devices of this type made no provision for mounting the wheels for vertical movement relative to the car, with the result that resilient car suspension could not be provided and car and track life was correspondingly shortened. Also, in the prior art constructions, difliculty resulted from the tendency of the doors to swing open so fast that their momentum carried them up and into damaging contact with the wheels forward of their axes of swinging movement. Moreover, the wheel gage of the earlier wide door drop bottom cars could not easily be changed so as to adapt them to various track gages.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide drop bottom vehicles better adapted to ride not only on their wheels but also on other vehicle body portions.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of such vehicles having desirably low centers of gravity when loaded.

Still another object of this invention is the provision of such vehicles of maximum lading capacity.

It is also an object of this invention to provide such vehicles in which the wheel gage may be easily changed so as to adapt the vehicles for use with track of any desired gage.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of wheeled vehicles having drop bottom doors wider than the wheel gage but at the same time having resiliently mounted wheels.

A still further object of the present invention is the provision of a wheeled vehicle having a drop bottom door wider than the wheel gage with the wheels movably mounted relative to the vehicle, in which provision is made for carrying the wheels suspended over a dumping station.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a wheeled vehicle having a drop bottom door, in which the end structure of the vehicle is so arranged as to provide maximum carrying capacity per unit length of a train of such Vehicles.

The invention also contemplates the provision of a wheeled vehicle having a drop bottom door wider than the wheel gage but in which the door when swinging does not interfere with the wheels forward of its axis of swinging movement.

Yet another object of the invention is the provision of such vehicles having structure facilitating the discharge of sticky material.

It is also within the purview of this invention to provide such vehicles in combination with special track assemblies having various novel features of coaction with the vehicle structure.

Finally, it is an object of the present invention to provide such vehicles and track assemblies that will be relatively easy and inexpensive to construct, maintain and repair, dependable to operate, and rugged and durable in use.

Briey stated, the present invention comprises the provision of a Wheeled vehicle having a drop bottom door of a width greater than the vehicle wheel gage and mounted for vertical swinging movement on the vehicle about a horizontal axis disposed transversely of the length of the vehicle. The vehicle does not include the usual main sill along the longitudinal centerline, but instead employs a main sill in two portions, one on either side of the vehicle. Transverse tie members extend between and interconnect the side sill portions, and the vehicle wheels are mounted on these tie members. The tie members provide hood means over the wheels and also over the door axis. The wheels are mounted in pairs on axles for vertical movement relative to the rest of the car, and resilient means disposed between the sill portions act between the axles outward of the wheels on the one hand, and points on the tie member above the door axis on the other hand, continuously yieldably to urge the wheels and tie members apart. Wells in the door accommodate the bottoms of the wheels in the extreme forwardly swung position of the door. In order to facilitate the discharge of tacky material, the side walls of the car may be inclined downward away from each other. The transverse tie members may be in the form of end sills, in which case the end sill and coupler and wheel assemblies are so consolidated as to facilitate overlapping the end of adjacent vehicle bodies and to provide vehicle trains of maximum carrying capacity per unit length of train. A dumping station is provided for use in combination with cars as described above, andthe dumping station has track means arranged to lower the wheels gradually as the car enters the dumping station. Preferably, the track means is a double row of rollers of which the axes are declined downward toward the opposite row` These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from a consideration of the following description, taken in connec- `tion with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE l is a plan view of an arrangement of a track assembly and dumping station according to the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a side cross-sectional view of the structure of FIGURE l;

FIGURE 3 is a transverse cross-sectional View through the dumping station showing a vehicle according to the present invention in dumping position;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged fragment of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a side elevational view of a wheeled vehicle according to the present invention, with parts broken away;

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary View, partly in cross-section, of a wheel mounting of the present invention;

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view on the line 7"'7 of FIGURE 6;

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary plan view of one end of a vehicle, showing the door and hood assembly of the present invention, with parts broken away;

FIGURE 9 is a longitudinal side cross-sectional view of a modified form of wheeled vehicle according to the present invention;

FIGURE 10 is a fragmentary plan view of the door assembly of the vehicle of FIGURE 9;

FIGURE l1 is a transverse cross-sectional view of the vehicle of FIGURE 9;

FIGURE l2 is a fragmentary elevational View of an outer side of the vehicle of FIGURE 9;

FIGURE 13 is a perspective view of a modified form of the present invention;

FIGURE 14 is a side elevational view, with parts broken away, of a pair of vehicles of the type shown in FIGURE 13; and

FIGURE 15 is an end elevational view, with parts broken away, of a vehicle of the type shown in FIG- URES 13 and 14.

Referring now to the drawings in greater detail, there is shown a dumping station indicated generally at 1 and suitable for use as a portion of the environment of the present invention for the receipt of a quantity of material 3 delivered thereto by trains of drop bottom cars 5. Dumping station l comprises in general an elongated pit which is open at its top for the reception of the material and which has conveyor means or other discharge means (not shown) at its bottom for removing .material from the pit as desired.

The dumping station is serviced by a iirst track means 7 disposed on both sides of the dumping station, and a second track means 9 at the dumping station itself and extending for short distances at either end thereof. First track means '7 includes a lirst track section Il on the approach side of dumping station 1 and a second track section 13 on the other side thereof. First and second track sections 1l and I3 are generally in alignment with each other but are discontinuous as they are spaced apart by the length of the dumping station. In addition, rst track means 7 includes by-pass tracks in the nature of a siding 15 on which the trains or any portions thereof can be routed to by-pass the dumping station entirely. All the components of iirst track means 7 are of the usual relatively narrow gage of mine track.

Second track means 9 is relatively wide gage, preferably of a gage slightly greater than the total car width. The second track means is provided by a pair of parallel lines of rollers 17 each of which has a cylindrical tread or running surface, and a radially extending flange 1S on the side of the roller opposite the other line of rollers. Rollers 17 are mounted on supports 19 for rotation about axes that are not quite horizontal, but' rather that decline downward toward the opposite row of rollers at small acute angles (A), say, about 5. Supports 19, in turn, are mounted on beams 21 extending lengthwise of the dumping station in parallelism to each other; and beams 21 are supported at the upper ends of short columns 23 which are supported on transverse beams 25. Beams 25 are disposed suiiiciently below the level of rollers 17 and columns 23 are disposed sutiiciently far apart on either side of the dumping station that they do not interfere with the doors when the doors are hanging down in their lowermost suspended position as seen in FIGURE 3.

As is usual in drop bottom cars, a plurality of drop bottom doors 27 are provided on each car 5, which are swingably mounted at their forward ends for vertical swinging movement about horizontal axes disposed transverse to the length of the car. As is usual, latch means 29 are provided at the rear of the car for releasably retaining the rear door closed, that is, in upwardly rearwardly swung position; and the doors 27 .are so arranged that the release of the rear door sequentially releases the doo-rs next forward, in a manner well known in this art. Latch release means 31, shown in FIGURE l, are provided on the approach side of the dumping station to trip latch means 29 when the rear edge of the rear door 27 has just cleared the trailing edge of the dumping station. The latch assembly just described, and its operation, form no part of the present invention as such and may for example take the form and have the function disclosed in Patent No. 2,728,471, December 27, 1955. On the other or exit end of the dumping station, as the cars resume their travel on second track section 13, a door closing device 33 cams the doors sequentially into closed relationship starting with the forward door. When the doors are closed in this order, which. is the conventional arrangement, the second and third doors serve as the latches for the first and second doors, respectively, in a manner well known in this art.

It will now be appreciated that one feature of the present invention is the aforementioned downward inclination yof the axes of the rollers of each roll toward the rollers of the other roll. This feature is advantageous for at least three reasons. In the first place, it enters into novel combination with the environment of a dumping station for drop bottom door cars because these rollers are relatively large and heavy and are not solid. When material falling from a drop bottom car is caught within the confines of the wheel, the material tends to build up until eventually the wheel is clogged. But downwardly inclining the axes of these wheels moves the wheel hubs away from the discharging material and lessens the buildup of material within the confines of the wheel. In the second place, the wheels with inclined axes center the cars in the dumping station and prevent the cars from bumping against and damaging the wheel flanges. It is known in this art to provide idler rollers in a dumping station such that the rollers automatically center the car, but these known devices used wheels having horizontal axes and tapered treads or running surfaces. The inclined axes of the present invention are an improvement over these known devices having coplanar horizontal axes, since all points on the tapered treads of the prior art moved in vertical planes, while in the present invention, the points move in upwardly converging planes such that every point on the upper half of the approach or upstream side of the rollers has an inward component of motion that positively centers the car, while on the other hand the cars never contact the downstream side of the rollers. And in the third place, from a manufacturing standpoint, the idler rollers of the present invention can be manufactured with a cylindrical tread rather than a tapered tread and this is an advantage particularly when the running surfaces of the idler rollers are hardfaced in a rotating jig.

The cars 5 are provided with wheels 35 that are mounted on the cars for limited vertical movement relative to the cars, so as to enable resilient mounting of the cars on the wheels thereby greatly to increase the life of the cars and tracks when heavier loads are carried. A train of cars 5 may be drawn along rst track section 11 on the approach side of the dumping station, and when the dumping station is approached, the engine or locomotive drawing the train is uncoupled and shunted onto siding by which it by-passes the dumping station. A car feeder (not shown) or the like may then take over to move the cars along the remaining portion of the approach tracks and across the dumping station and onto the tracks 13, where the cars pick up the locomotive again and return to the lling station.

rlhe cars ride across the dumping station on portions disposed outward of their wheels, preferably on the lower outermost edges of the cars. Empty space is maintained between the two lines of rollers 17, so that the doors 27 when unlatched are free to fall between these lines of rollers to permit the lading to drop through the bottom of the car by gravity. In the illustrated embodiment, rollers 17 are idler rollers; but it will of course be understood that they might be power-driven rollers, in which case the use of a car feeder or the like would not be necessary. Also, endless chain or cableway conveyor means might be used in place of rollers 17. In any of these cases, relatively wide gage track means would still be thus provided for receiving and conveying cars 5 across the dumping station on portions of the cars other than the wheels.

While the cars are still on the approach tracks 11, they are supported on the wheels, and the weight of the loaded car forces the car body down toward the wheels. In the dumping station, however, the car is supported on other portions of its body and the wheels hang free. Nothing urges the wheels toward the body when the car is in the dumping station; and therefore, the wheels and body are spaced farther apart than when the car rides on the wheels. Thus, the wheels fall relative to the body when the weight of the body shifts from track section 11 to track means 9. As the weight of the wheel assemblies is considerable the falling of these assemblies can be quite harmful to the wheel mountings.

Accordingly, another feature of the present invention comprises means for preventing a rapid or injurious vertical movement of the wheel assemblies when the wheel assemblies are mounted for such movement relative to the vehicle. Specifically, track section 11 and second track means 9 are so related to each other in their coextensive region on the approach side of the dumping station that the supporting surfaces of track section 11 gradually but progressively 4fall relative to the supporting surfaces of track means 9, so that the shift of the weight of the loaded car from track section 11 to track means 9 is made gradually over that region of overlapping track means, and the wheels are lowered only relatively slowly to their fully suspended position in which they traverse the dumping station. Preferably, this change of relative elevation of the supporting surfaces of the first and second track means on the approach side of the dumping station is effected by maintaining all of rollers 17 at a common elevation but progressively lowering track section 11 from the horizontal in a direction toward the dumping station, beginning about the adjacent ends of second track means 9. Alternatively, of course, track section 1l may be preserved horizontal and rollers 17 supported progressively higher over the region of overlap in the direction of car travel. The same type of relationship also obtains on the exit side of the dumping station, where track section 13 and track means 9 gradually approach each other in the direction of vehicle movement thereby to prevent too rapid a rise 4of the wheel assemblies relative to the vehicle.

One embodiment of individual car 5 for use in the environment of the present invention is shown in FIGURES 5 through 8. As @is -there shown, a car is provided which has the usual open-topped body and which is provided with a car frame including the usual end sills 37 carrying the usual coupling members 39. The prior art car constructions of this type include a center beam or draft member extending along the longitudinal center line of the drop bottom cars and interconnecting central portions of the end sills of these earlier cars. But a very important feature of the present invention resides in the fact that such a center beam is omitted from the device of the present invention in each of the illustrated embodiments. Instead, in each illustrated species of the present invention, the car is provided with a box frame in which the main sill, that is, the sill means extending lengthwise of the car, is in two sections, one disposed on either side of the car. Thus, in the embodiment of FIGURES 5 through 8, main sill sections 41 extend substantially full length of the car between end sills 37 and are secured to the outer ends of end sills 37 at the ends of still sections 41. Sill sections 41 thus define the lowermost outermost structural members of the car and are perhaps the most important structural members from a standpoint of the present invention. As best seen in FIGURE 7, sill sections 41 are in the form of generally oppositely outwardly opening channel members. These channel members carry wear strips t2 on their undersurfaces, as best seen in FlGURE 4, and it is these wear strips which contact the upper surfaces of rollers 17 in the dumping station. Thus, the body of the car 5 is effectively carried across the dumping station on the side sill sections 41, and the provision that the main sill sections of the car body ride directly above the track means which carry the cars across the dumping station assures that the strongest and most rigid construction is provided for supporting the car in the dumping station.

Drop bottom doors 27 comprise substantially all of the floor of the vehicle, as indicated above. In addition to these doors, the material carrying and retaining function is performed by the usual inclined overlapping end walls 43, and by side walls 45. Side walls 45 are secured directly to sill sections 41 along the free edges thereof and close the open channels of sections 41. The upper flange of each sill section 41 is inclined downwardly inward and terminates in a vertical web, this inclined flange and vertical web Iforming the lower interior portions of the side walls of the car body. Side wall 45 is shown as being disposed vertically, while actually, of course, it could be outwardly upwardly inclined. However, since track means 9 can be spaced at any desired track gage, the distance between sill sections 4l is limited only by the lateral clearance in mines. Hence, there is ordinarily no reason to incline side walls 45 upwardly outward, as the maximum lading capacity can be achieved with vertical side walls 45 as shown.

Another very important feature of the invention comprises the provision of transverse tie members 47 extending between and rigidly interconnecting opposed sill sections 4l.

Ot course, the term interconnecting as used here and elsewhere in this speciiication does not necessarily imply that the members are directly connected to each other. Although it is preferred that tie members 47 be directly connected to sill sections 41, nevertheless, members 47 rigidly interconnect sections 4l within the purview of this invention if members 47 are directly rigidly connected only to side walls 45 and do not Contact sill sections 4l at all.

Each tie member 47 is comprised of sheet metal in the form of a downwardly opening hood, as perhaps best seen in FIGURE 6, and the ends of the sheet material which makes up tie members 47 are secured as by welding to side sill sections 41 and also side walls 45. Partitioning members 48 can be secured to sidewalls 45 and transverse tie members 47. The securement of the tie members to sill sections 41, however, is the signicant relationship; and it is this securement between members 41 and 47 which provides the principal support for the car body.

Speciiically, it is on tie members 47 rather than sill. sections 4l that the wheels 35 are mounted. Wheels 35 are mounted in axially aligned pairs on axles 49, which in turn are interconnected with tie members 47 by means of shock absorbing connections 51 comprising, in the illustrated embodiment, coil compression springs 53 actingr between the ends of axles 49 outward of wheels 35 on the one hand, and portions of the underside of tie members 47 on the other hand. It is preferable, although not necessary, that the springs be on the outer side of the wheels so as to lend stability to the vehicle.

Springs 53 are provided in pairs disposed within spring cages made up of upper and lower plates 55 and 5'7, respectively, lower plate 57 being secured to a pair of vertical webs 59 spaced apart axially of and securely encompassing axle 49 at each end thereof. The front and rear transverse edges of plate 55 are secured to the underside of the hood. In addition to upper plate 55, vertical plates 6l are provided spaced apart longitudinally of the car and disposed transversely thereof to the front and rear of springs 53. Webs 63 extend between and are secured to the outer surfaces of plates 61 and the underside of the hood. Plates 61 carry stops 65 thereon for coaction with the underside of lower plate 57 to limit downward movement of the wheel assembly when the wheels are hanging free over the dumping station. As would be expected, wheels 35 turn relative to axles 49 and axles 49 remain stationary relative to webs 59.

Secured immediately on the inner sides of wheels 35 are vertical back plates 67 which are fastened about their upper peripheries to the underside of the hoods provided by tie members 47. Back plates 67 carry yokes 69 of inverted U-shape, which loosely but guidingly receive axles 49 to permit limited vertical movement of axles 49 relative to tie members 47 but to prevent substantial movement ot axles 49 to the front or rear of the car body. It is yokes 69, and particularly the upper ends thereof, that limit compressive movement of the spring assemblies thereby to limit the level to which the loaded car body sinks. Back plates 67 and yokes 69 are braced across the car body by transverse tie plates 71 interconnecting them. Further bracing of the assembly is provided by vertical plates 73 interconnecting the highest part of the underside of tie members 47 with the adjacent surfaces of upper plates 55 and back plates 67.

Tie members 47 thus provide hood means over wheels 35 which shield the wheel openings from loss of material therethrough and which permit the wheels to turn freely even though a considerable quantity of lading is carried outwardly beyond the wheels. Tie members 47 are of uniform cross-sectional configuration throughout their length, and their cross-sectional configuration not only admirably adapts them for use as hoods but also imparts to them an extremely strong beam strength having regard for their manner of connection to side sill members 4I and to wheels 35.

Another feature of the embodiment of FIGURES 5 through 8 is the manner of mounting doors 27 on the car body. Instead of being mounted on the wheel axles, as in the prior art, the drop bottom doors of this embodiment are mounted on the car body entirely independently of the wheels. Specically, they are mounted on and between side sill sections 41, on hinge rods 75 the opposite ends of which are pivotally mounted through the webs of sill sections 41 adjacent the bottoms of those webs. As is best seen in FIGURE 7, collar and cotter assemblies 77 retain the opposite ends of hinge rods 75 in bearing engagement with sill sections 41 to prevent axial dislodgement. In any event, the axis of swinging movement ot door 27 in this embodiment is displaced from any axis of wheels 35, either to the front or the rear thereof, and preferably below the wheel axes. This position of the axis of the door below the axis of the wheels not only permits the achievement of a lower center of gravity, but also simpliiies the extension of the doors beneath the wheel axles. In the embodiment of FIGURES 5-8, each door is provided with a pair of elongated recesses 79 extending from hinge -rod 75 toward the rear end `ot the door a distance sutiicient to accommodate a Wheel 35, so that a wheel projects downwardly through each recess 79 in the closed door position. In any event, the hinge rods 75 are disposed beneath tie members `47 so that the tie ymembers provide hoods over the overlapping portions of adjacent ends of doors 27 and over recesses 79 as well as over the wheels.

The construction described above has certain advantages over constructions of this type in which both the wheels and the doors are mounted for rotation about a common axis, and indeed, on common axles, in that this new arrangement separates the wheel mounting problems from the load support problems. In a three-door car as shown, two-thirds of the weight of the load is carried on the door supports intermediate the ends of the car. If both the wheels and the doors are mounted on common axles, then those axles serve as cantilever beams when the wheels are riding on the narrow gage track but are immediately converted into beams supported at their ends and loaded in the opposite direction when the cars shift from the narrow gage track to the wide gage track in the dumping station.

Moreover, the device of FIGURES 5-8 provides an entirely diterent structural arrangement functioning entirely differently under both static and shock loads from anything known to the prior art. To understand why this is so, it may be helpful to consider the structure of this embodiment as a truss when viewed in a transverse crosssection of the car. Consider the bottom chord of the truss to be a door hinge rod 75, the ends of the truss being marked by the cross-sections of sill sections 41. Consider the top chord of the truss to be the structure that is made up mostly of a transverse tie member 47 and which extends from one sill section 41 diagonally upward to the point of application of force by springs 53 to the tie member, for example, adjacent upper plate 55. The top chord of the truss then extends horizontally along the tie member to the other top plate 55, and then diagonally downward to the other sill section 41. This truss has the usual augmented strength characteristics of trusses in general, but in addition enjoys a unique superiority over the usual trusses in that it is loaded quite uniformly. For example, the bottom chord of the truss, that is, the door hinge, is always loaded as a beam supported at its ends and downwardly loaded uniformly along its length, with substantially no upward components of applied force. It can therefore be designed for this purpose and no other. Its only change of loading is when it is unloaded and reloaded in the same direction, for it is never substantially loaded in the opposite direction. Similarly, the top chord of the truss, running through tie member 47, is largely loaded only as a beam supported intermediate its two ends on resilient supports provided by the springs 53 and loaded downward at its ends. When the car is riding on the narrow gage track, these top chords of the trusses jointly carry substantially the entire weight of the loaded car, but they can be easily designed for this for they need serve no other substantial support function. Moreover, the peculiar shape imparted to them so that they serve as hoods also admirably adapts them to serve as truss chords. Of course, when the cars pass from the narrow gage track to the wide gage track at the dumping station, this loading of the top chord is relieved and the weight of the wheels is then imposed in the opposite direction. However, the weight of the wheels, although considerable, is nevertheless quite small compared to the weight of the loaded car, `and the design need not be changed to accommodate this relatively small weight.

An important feature of the mounting of the present invention in each of the illustrated embodiments thus resides in the fact that stresses imposed on this truss through the wheels are applied to the transverse tie member at points that are spaced substantial distances above the door axis. This arrangement has the triple advantage of lowering the center of gravity of the loaded car and improving its stability, providing a truss arrangement for the car frame and load-supporting members as described above, and permitting the wheel axles to be spaced from the point of load application a distance suflicient for the insertion of resilient wheel mountings.

.It will also be noted that the wheel mounting of this embodiment as well as of the other illustrated embodiments facilitates changing the wheel gage to adapt the vehicle to various track gages, simply by changing the truck spacing and by changing the doors.

As stated above, another problem that arises in connection with the use of drop bottom doors is that they not only swing downwardly open but also continue by their momentum to swing upwardly forward to the extent that they tend to crash against the lower portions of the forward wheels. The present invention makes provision for preventing this by specially shaping the doors so that they will not strike the wheels. Specifically, in the embodiment of FIGURES -8, wheel wells 81 are provided in at least the rear door, and these ,wells open downward when the door is in its fully raised position as seen in FIGURE 5. They are so positioned that when door 27 makes its initial opening swing, the wheels 35 next `forward of the door hinge will be disposed in wells 81 and will not touch the door. If the upward forward swing `of the door is stopped Iby `a portion of the car, it will be a portion of the car body which can better receive and distribute the blow than could wheels 35. Thus, wells 81 are dened by imperforate portions of door 27 including at parallel side walls 83 joined about their arcuate edges by arcuate webs 85 so as to provide a well 81 nicely shaped to receive a wheel 35.

A somewhat modified, less preferred form of car construction is shown in central longitudinal cross-section in FIGURE 9, and a portion of the structure of FIG- URE 9 is shown in plan in FIGURE 10. The modified car is shown in transverse cross-section in FIGURE 11 and in fragmentary outer side elevation in FIGURE 12. This second embodiment of car construction differs from the rst principally in the slope of the inner side walls and the location of the door hinges, and secondarily in the location of the wheel wells and the nature of the hinge structure.

The parts which correspond closely, structurally, and functionally to similar parts in FIGURES 5-8, bear primed reference numerals corresponding to the numerals in the preceding embodiment and need not be again described.

In the embodiment of FIGURES 9 through 12, the door hinges, instead of immediately preceding the wheel axes with which they share hoods, immediately follow those axes. Thus, the axis of each door is to the rear and below its immediately adjacent wheel axis. As a result, the wheel wells 81 are spaced substantially closer to the door hinges, for the wells 81 must accommodate those immediately adjacent wheels rather than the wheels spaced forward most of the length of a door. Also, in the embodiment of FIGURES 9 and l0, the rearmost wheels 35 must be accommodated in well 81. By contrast, in the embodiments of FIGURES 5-8, the rearmost doors require no wheel wells.

Another difference between the first fand second embodiments is that in the embodiment of FIGURES 9 through 12, slightly different door hinge means are provided. Specically, the hinge rods 75 are maintained in their proper position relative to the doors by means of filler rods 87 about which the forward ends of the doors are bent, and retaining members 89 secured to the underside of the door to keep the hinge rod in the crook of the door. This latter structure is in contrast to the structure of the preceding embodiment, in which the sheet material of the door is bent back on itself for a considerable distance. However, this latter-described hinge structure is conventional in this art and forms no part of the present invention. It is merely an alternative convenient method of assuring that the doors have proper interlocking hinging relationships to each other in a manner already known in this art.

The embodiment of FIGURES 9 through 12 also differs from that of FIGURES 5 8 in that the forward edge of the door that receives the hinge rod 75 is continuous, the recesses 79' being this time provided in the freely swinging edge of the door lfor accommodation of the adjacent wheels 35.

As between the embodiments of FIGURES 5 and 9, the door arrangement of FIGURE 5 is preferred. The door of FIGURE 9 must swing a substantially greater arcuate distance than the door -of FIGURE 5 before the door comes into contact with material falling from the portion of the car next forward. This falling material tends to slow down and stop the forward door swing, so that in FIGURE 5, the falling material almost immediately effectively puts a brake lon the forward and upward swing of the next rearward door; while in FIGURE 9, the door has to swing a considerably greater distance before the falling material slows it down. Hence, with the construction of FIGURES 58, the tendency of the doors to slam against the underside of the car when they first open is less than in the case of FIGURES 9-12.

The embodiment of FIGURES 9-12 also includes what is an important feature of the invention in connection with discharging sticky or tacky materials from the car, such as clay yand dirt and the like. It will be understood, however, that this feature is also applicable to cars of the type `of FIGURES 5-8, among others. Specifically, a modified sill structure is p-rovided in which a pair of side sill sections are each made up yof an angle member 91 and an angle member 93 welded along their edges to produce a box beam having vertical side walls and horizontal top and bottom walls. Opposite side walls 95 are provided, each having an upright inner side portion 97 and a horizontal top portion 99. Top portions 99 extend outward in opposite directions yand terminate edgewise in parallel edge flanges 101 extending lengthwise of the car. A plurality of vertical flat webs 103 are disposed in planes perpendicular to the lengthwise extent of the car and are :secured to and interconnect the under surface of portion 99, the outer side of sidewall 95, and the upper surface of angle member 93, thereby to brace the structure.

As shown in FIGURE l1, each side portion 97 is not vertical, as in the prior art, but is inclined downwardly outward at an angle 105. Preferably, angle 105 is beltween 3 and 5. Thus, the side walls are inclined down- Ward away from each other for at least most of their height. As a result, the upper portions of the opposite side walls are closer together than the lower portions of the opposite side walls. Of course, this feature is equally well adapted to the embodiment of FIGURES 5-8 The purpose of providing side walls having an inclination the reverse of the usual inclination is to aid in the discharge of tack or sticky materials by gravity. At first, it might seem that there is no advantage in this construction compared to a vertical side wall, for neither this construction nor a vertical wall lends any subjacent support to the material nor raises any problem of angle of repose. However, it is believed that the advantage yof the present construction resides in the fact that the progressively greater distance between the side walls from top to bottom thereof relieves the compacting tendency of the progressively greater weight of superposed material in the car from top to bottom thereof. In other words, the tendency of the tacky material to behave to some extent as a conined fluid is counteracted, with the result that the material adjacent the lower portions of the wide walls is not compacted against the side walls with a force substantially greater than is the material adjacent the upper portions `of the side walls. It is believed to be for this reason that the problem of caking on the lower portions of the side walls is largely overcome by the present invention.

It will also be appreciated that the negative inclination of the side walls is a feature that has a special coaction with the feature of providing doors of a width greater than the wheel gage. The negative inclination of the side walls somewhat reduces the capacity of a car of given width and height; and if the doors were of less than wheel gage so as to fall between the members of a pair of continuous rails, the capacity of a car with side walls inclined in this manner would be prohibitively small. But by removing the limitation on the door width, it is possible to make the car of a width such that the reduction of capacity by reverse inclination of the side Walls is unobjectionable.

Still another embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGURES 13-15 in the environment of a single door drop bottom car 107 having its main sill in the form of a pair of side sill sections 109 one on each side and extending lengthwise .of the car. Side sill sections 109 in the embodiment of FIGURES 13-15 are different from those of the previous embodiments and illustrate one of the many ways in which the construction of the side sill members is subject to variation. In the embodiment of FIGURES 13-15, side sill sections 109 are in the for-m of heavy elongated solid plates disposed in parallel vertical planes, and in this sense are solid rather than hollow as in the case of the channel or box beam side sill sections of the preceding embodiments. Horizontal runners 110 are welded to the lower edges of side sill sections 109 and project laterally outwand therefrom, and reinforcing bars 111 running substantially full length of runners 110 are welded to and provide diagonal braces between the outer edge portions of runners 110 and side sill sections 109. In this way, runners 110 provide Well-braced supporting members for supporting cars 107 when they pass across a dumping station as in FIGURES 1-4, with runners 110 riding on conveyor means comprised, for example, by opposed parallel rows of idler rollers 112 rotatable about axes downwardly inclined toward the opposite row of rollers.

Side sill sections 109 are the side members of a box frame of the car, `the ends of the box frame being made up to end sills 113 which extend between and rigidly interconnect side sill sections r109. End sills 113 are secured as by welding at their ends adjacent and preferably to the upper edges of the ends of side sills 109.

Each car 107 is provided with a pair of opposed side walls 115 which are generally upright but which are inclined as in FIGURE 11, that is, they diverge from each other downward at a small acute angle, for the reasons and with the advantages set forth above. They secured as by welding adjacent their lower edges to the inner sides of side sills 109. End walls 117 are also provided, and they converge downward. They are secured at the lower portions of their side edges to the inner sides of side sills 109 as by welding.

As shown in FIGURE 14, each car 107 is provided with a single drop bottom door 119, although it will of course be understood that each car may have more than one door 119, and that the claim language a drop bottom door includes cars having one or more doors. Door 119 is mounted for vertical swinging movement about a horizontal axis adjacent its forward end on an axle 121 which is journaled at its ends for rotation in openings through side sills 109 adjacent the lower edges of side sills 109. Side sills 109 thus extend substantial distances above the axis of vertical swinging movement of door 119.

The embodiment of FIGURES 13-15 includes still another form of drop bottom door structure. The upper surface of door 119 of these latter gures is essentially plain and has no wheel wells projecting into the interior of car 107. Nevertheless, wells for the reception of the vehicle wheels are provided, but on the underside of the door. The well structure also reinforces the door. To this end, vertical ribs 122 are provided which are welded to the underside of the door and which extend lengthwise of the door parallel to but spaced between the longitudinal side edges of the door. Cover plates 123 are secured to the lower edges of ribs 122 spaced below and generally parallel to the material supporting portions of door 119. Cover plates 123 are discontinuous, however, between ribs 122 and the side edges of door 119 in those regions which would `otherwise be struck by the vehicle Wheels upon forward swinging movement of the door to the extreme position shown in phantom line at the lower left of FIGURE 14. The broken away portions of cover plates 123 thus provide wheel wells 124 on the underside of the door. As the ribs 122 and cover plates 123 provide desirable reinforcement for the door, it will be obvious that the wells 124 are provided at no real expense to the carrying capacity of the car.

Conventional latch means 125 are provided adjacent the rear edge of door 119 when the door is in its closed position. Latch means 125 serve releasably to retain the door in closed position and are tripped by means (not shown) positioned on the approach side of a dumping station to release the door for vertical swinging move ment to empty the car. The function of latch means 125 is conventional and well known and need not be described further.

Side walls 115 and end walls 117 of each car 107 are braced by generally horizontally extending reinforcing members in the form of angles 126 extending thereabout and secured to the outer sides of the side and end walls. Uprights 127 extend between and are secured at their ends to angles 126 and the upper sides -of end sills 113, thereby to provide column support for a portion of the load borne by end walls 117 and to transfer this portion of the load directly to end sills 113.

Flanged vehicle wheels 129 are provided in pairs at each end of car 107, the wheels of each pair being coaxial and mounted on an axle 131. Wheels 129 are disposed between the planes of side walls 115 and between side sills 109. One pair of wheels 129 is disposed on the side of one end wall 117 opposite the other end wall 117, and the other pair of wheels 129 is disposed on the side of that other end wall 117 opposite the one end wall 117. In other words, the load-carrying body of the vehicle is 13 disposed between the longitudinally spaced apart pairs of wheels. Drop bottom door 119 is wider than the wheel gage, that is, wider than the distance between the flanges of the wheels 129.

Endwise outwardly beyond wheels 129, axles 131 carry vertical webs 133 disposed in planes extending longitudinally of car 107. Webs 133 carry horizontal plates 135 xedly secured to their upper edges, and a plurality of coil compression springs 137 having vertical axes are disposed and act between horizontal plates 135 and the undersides of end sills 113. As in the case of the preceding embodiments, there are two springs per wheel and they are on the outer sides of the wheels. The points at which these springs act on the end sills are substantial distances above the axis of vertical swinging movement of door 119. Also, the axes of wheels 129 are substantially above the door axis.

Springs 137 are disposed in spring cages 139 which are rigid both with end sills 113 and with side sills 109. Each cage 139 accommodates the two springs individual to a Wheel 129, and comprises front and rear vertical plates 141 disposed in planes parallel to the wheel axes and fixedly secured as by welding along their upper edges to the undersides of end sills 113 and on their outer Vertical edges as by welding to the inner sides of side sills 109. Horizontal bars 143 are secured as by welding to the outer sides of cages 139 along the lower edges of front and rear vertica-l plates 141 and also to the inner sides of side sills 11D9. A strap 145 extends longitudinally of the car beneath each spring cage 139, and a nut and bolt assembly 147 passes vertically through each end of strap 145 and the associated horizontal bar 143 removably to integrate straps 145 with spring cages 139. The ends of each axle 131 are thus vertically movable within the associated spring cages 139, but when the car is in the dumping station and the wheel and the axle assemblies hang free, vertical webs 133 at the ends vof axles 131 rest on their lower edges on the upper surfaces of the associated bars 143 to suspend the wheel and axle assemblies in the dumping station and to retain them within their spring cages 139.

It will therefore be appreciated that spring cages 139 perform a number of important functions. In the first place, they provide housings for the springs. ln the second place, they suspend the wheel and axle assemblies from the cars in the dumping station. In the third place, they integrate the side sills and the end sills into a rigid box frame.

Coupling means 14S are provided for detachably interconnecting adjacent cars 107 of a train of cars for horizonta-l swinging movement relative to each other about vertical axes disposed one at each end of coupling means 148. Each coupling means 148 is housed at its ends in coupler housings 149 one at each end of each car 107. Each coupler housing 149 is mounted beneath a midportion of an end sill 113, and comprises a pair of side plates 151 disposed in parallel vertical planes extending lengthwise of the car, and a horizontal bottom plate 153 secured as by welding to and between the lower edges of side plates 151. A vertical rear plate 155 welded to at least several of the rear edges of side plates 151 and bottom plate 153 and end sill 113 closes the rear of and completes coupler housing 149.

Passing vertically through end sill 113 and bottom plate 153 within coupler housing 149 is a pair of parallel laterally spaced apart coupler pins 157 which removably connect a pair of interengaged coupler sections 159 and 161 to the adjacent ends of a pair of cars 107. These coupler sections are conventional in construction and provide between them a linkage separable about midway of its length for coupling or uncoupling, but which when coupled is rigid throughout its length. Each coupler section includes, at its end remote from the joint between .them, a vertical pivot pin 162 by which the linkage of the coupling means is swingable relative to the car about a vertical axis. Each pivot pin 162 thus provides a pivot between the rigid linkage and the portions of the coupling means that are secured to the cars by coupler pins 157. Although the coupler sections are detachable from the cars by removal of pins 157, they are nevertheless secured to the cars in operation and are removed only for replacement. Coupling and uncoupling are effected between sections 159 and 161.

The location of pivot pins 162 relative to the rest of the car is highly important. They are disposed between the vertical planes that include the Wheel axes. As seen in FIGURE 14, the distance between pivot pins 162 of a given car is about equal to the wheel base. This distance can be substantially less than the distance between the Wheel axes which are the support points of that car, that is, the wheel base of the car. The distance between the pivot pins 162 of a given coupling means 148, that is, the length of the rigid linkage, can therefore be substantially greater than the distance between the axes of adjacent sets of wheels of adjacent cars. The significance of this arrangement is twofold: In t-he first place, it contributes to the lengthwise consolidation of the train of cars, thereby making it possible to provide each car with steeper end walls thus to increase the carrying capacity of the train per unit length thereof and facilitate the shedding of sticky materials from such steeper end walls. In the second place, the disposition of the coupling pivots intermediate the wheel base eliminates the application of cantilever forces outside the wheel base, and this in turn practically eliminates what is known in this art as fence railing, lthat is, the tendency of couplers to become mis aligned with the center of the track and to push one end of the car laterally, sometimes to the point of derailment.

Reinforcing angles 163 and 165 are provided adjacent the forward and rear ends of the car, respectively. Each of these ang-les is elongated transversely of the car and is secured along one side edge to an end wall 117 by means of welding to a flange on angle 163 or 165, and at its ends by welding to the inner sides of side sills 109. Each angle 163 or 165 has a midportion which extends beneath and is welded to the underside of bottom plate 153 of the adjacent coupler housing 149, so that the coupler housings are integrated not only with the end sills but also with the side sills and with the end walls of the car. The end Walls are thus in effect made a part of the box frame of the car through the agency of reinforcing angles 163 and 165. At the same time, angles 163 and 165 resist the torque imposed on end sills 113 by the couplings, for the point of application of force by the couplers to the coupler housings is below the point of application of force by the coupler housings to the end sills but above the point of application of force by the coupler housings to the angles 163 and 165.

It should be noted that uprights 127 are disposed adjacent the points of application of force by springs 137 to end sil-ls 133. Uprigh-ts 127 impose for-ce downward on end sills 113, While springs 137 impose force upward on end sills 113, thus setting up couples the magnitude of which Varies as the distance between these points of application of force. Disposing uprights 127 adjacent springs 137 thus reduces the magnitude of these couples. At the same time, uprights 127 are suiciently close to the center of the end walls to bear a large portion of the load imposed on the end walls. Accordingly, it will be recognized that uprights 127 are positioned so as to perform their load-bearing function Without at the same time setting up large couples in the end si-lls.

It should also be noted that coupler housings 149 are disposed horizontally between their associated wheels 129 and vertically between their associated axle 131 and end sill 113. However, the length of springs 137 is such that there would not ordinarily be suicient room for coupler housings 129 between axles 131 and end sil-ls 113. Accordingly, end sills 113 are shaped so as to have each a horizontal central portion 167 disposed higher than each horizontal end portion 169 thereof. Centra-l portion 167 is parallel to end portions 169, and portions 167 and 169 are joined by integral upwardly inclined converging portions 171 of end sills 113.

It is of the utmost importance to recognize that the end sill and coupler housing and wheel and axle assembly mounting of the embodiment of FIGURES 13 and 14 provides a construction which is consolidated lengthwise of the car so as to extend the length of the car the very least possible. Each coupler section is mounted on and below the adjacent end sill, between the adjacent vehicle wheels, and between the adjacent end sill and the adjacent vehicle axle. The end sil-ls are above the wheels and wheel axles and provide hood means thereover. rThe end sills adjacent their outer ends also provide the upper covers for the resilient wheel and axle mountings, and the housings for these resilient mountings in turn brace the side and end sills. The end sills provide vertical support for the loads on the end and side walls but in a way which is not inconsistent with also providing vertical support for the entire car through the whe-el and axle assemblies even though these forces are opposed in direction and spaced apart at their points of application to the end sills. Similarly, although the points of application of coupler forces to the coupler housings are spaced from the points of application of force by the coupler housing to the end sills, this application of coupler forces and the resulting torque are counterbalanced by means integrating the end walls and coupler housings and side sills thereby to reinforce the box frame of the vehicle. Finally, it must be noted that the disposition of the wheel and axle assemblies endwise beyond the end walls of the cars permits the use of drop bottom doors wider than the wheel gage but without disposing any portion of the wheels in the material-carrying space in the car. At the same time, the door axis can be disposed substantially lower than either the wheel axes -or the points of application of force by the wheel and axle assemblies to the box frame, thereby improving the stability of the loaded vehicle and increasing the load-carrying capacity by extending the load-carrying space down between the wheels. Thus positioning the wheels endwise beyond the cars, however, does not reduce the effective length of the loadcarrying space of the cars, for the lengthwise consolidation of the end sills and wheels and coupler housings makes it possible to provide a maximum carrying capacity per unit length of a train made up of interconnected cars 107.

The lengthwise consolidation of the train by means of the unique end assemblies of FIGURES 13-15 is best shown in FIGURE 14, in which a pair of cars 107 are shown in an articulated train. The cars have desirably steeply inclined end walls 117, but the coupling and end sill and wheel and axle assemblies are so consolidated in length that the upper rear edge 173 of the forward car 107 overlies the upper forward edge 17S of the car next the rear in the train of cars, so that the train of cars may be continuously loaded without spilling material between cars, despite the fact that two end si-lls, two coupler housings, two wheel and axle assemblies and a coupling means are all disposed between each pair of adjacent cars.

It is also to be noted that the essential elements of the embodiment of FIGURES 13-15 are the same as in the preceding embodiments. Thus, in common with the preceding embodiments, the embodiment of FIGURES 13-15 provides a wheeled vehicle having a drop bottom door wider than the wheel gage, means mounting the door on the vehicle for vertical swinging movement about a horizontal axis, a main sill in two portions one on either side of the vehicle, and transverse tie members interconnecting the sill portion, these transverse tie members being the end sills in this last embodiment. Also in Lcornrnon with the preceding embodiments, this last embodiment provides means mounting the vehicle wheels on and below the transverse tie members and between the side sill portions, the transverse tie members providing hood means over the wheels, and the transverse tie members interconnecting the door and the wheels, with the means mounting the wheels on the tie members acting on the tie members at points spaced substantial distances above the horizontal axis of the door. Also in common with the preceding embodiments, the embodiment of FGURES 13-15 provides that the horizontal door axis is disposed to the rear of at least one Wheel of the vehicle, the door having a well therein which opens downward when the door is closed and which is disposed to the rear of the door axis a distance such that when the door opens by swinging downwardly forward and then upward, a lower portion of the wheel will be disposed in the well when the door is at the end of its opening swing. The feature of providing that the side walls diverge downward is also held in common by a plurality of the embodiments. Also, the coaction of the vehicle frame with the wide gage track means in the dumping station is essentially the same in this last embodiment as in the preceding embodiments, as are also the downward inclination of the axes of the conveyor rollers in the dumping station and the vertical divergence of the relatively narrow gage and relatively wide .gage track means on the approach side of the dumping station.

From a consideration of the foregoing disclosure, it will be obvious that all of the initially recited `objects of the present invention have been achieved.

Although the present invention has been described and illustrated in connection with certain specific embodiments, it is to be understood that modifications and variations may be resorted to without departing from the invention. For example, although the wheels have been shown to be spring-mounted relative to the tie members, it will be appreciated that elastomers such as rubber may be used to provide resilient interconnection. Also, it will be understood that for lighter loads and for shorter hauls, no resilient interconnection and no provision for vertical movement of the wheels and body relative to each other are necessary. These and many other modifications are within the scope 'of the invention as deined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Conveying and unloading structure comprising (a) track for supporting a vehicle during travel on its wheels to a dumping station,

(b) wider gauge track means on which the vehicle travels through the dumping station, and

(c) a drop bottom hopper-type wheeled vehicle having (d) chassis means including main sill means in two sections with a section extending longitudinally along each side of the vehicle for supporting the vehicle on the wider gauge track means during travel through the dumping station, end sill means at each longitudinal end of the vehicle, and transverse tie means rigidly interconnecting the two side sill sections and located intermediate the end sill means in spaced relationship with the end sill means,

(e) body means including sidewall means extending upwardly from the side sill sections and endwall means at each longitudinal end of the vehicle, the sidewall means and endwall means in combination with the transverse tie means dening an open bottom configuration for the vehicle,

(t) drop bottom door means for closing the open bottom configuration of the vehicle, the drop bottom door means extending between the side sill sections and mounted for swinging movement about hori zontally disposed door axle means connected to the vehicle and extending laterally Of the vehicle be- 17 tween the side sill sections below the transverse tie means,

(g) wheel axle means extending laterally of the vehicle between the side sill sections,

(h) a pair of wheels mounted on each wheel axle means, the wheels being located on the wheel axle means intermediate the side sill sections defining a wheel gauge for the Vehicle which is narrower than the drop bottom door means extending between the side sill sections, and

(i) means mounting the wheel axle means below and on the transverse tie means including shock-absorbing connection means acting between the wheel axle means and the transverse tie means,

(j) the drop bottom door means and horizontally disposed door axle means being connected to the vehicle independently of the wheel axle means and positioned so as not to interfere with operation of the wheels, wheel axle means, and shock-absorbing connection means.

2. The conveying apparatus of claim 1 in which the track for supporting the vehicle on its wheels and the wider gauge track means are longitudinally coextensive for a substantial distance in the direction of vehicle travel on at least one side of the dumping station with Vertical spacing between the track for supporting the vehicle on its wheels and the wider gauge track means progressively diminishing adjacent the dumping station for gradually shifting support `of the vehicle from the track for supporting the vehicle on its wheels to the wider gauge track means.

3. The conveying apparatus of claim 1 in which the wider gauge track means comprises support surfaces formed from a series of rollers aligned longitudinally in the direction of vehicle travel in a row along each side of the dumping station with each roller being mounted on an axis which is inclined downwardly at its end closest to the Vehicle and which includes a radially extended flange at its end remote from the vehicle.

4. Conveying apparatus comprising (a) track for supporting a vehicle during travel on its wheels to a dumping station, and

(b) wider gauge track means on which the vehicle travels through the dumping station,

(c) a drop bottom hopper-type wheeled Vehicle having (d) chassis means including main sill means in two sections with a section extending longitudinally along each side of the vehicle for supporting the vehicle on the wider gauge track means during travel through the dumping station and end sill means at each longitudinal end of the vehicle with the end sill means rigidly interconnecting the side sill sections,

(e) body means including sidewall means extending upwardly from the side sill sections and endwall means at each longitudinal end of the vehicle dening in combination with the sidewall means an open bottom configuration for the vehicle,

(f) d rop bottom door means for closing the open bottomv conguration of the vehicle, the drop bottom door means extending between the side sill sections and mounted for swinging movement about horizontally disposed door axle means connected to the vehicle and extending laterally of the vehicle between the side sill sections below the end sill means,

(g) wheel axle means extending laterally of the Vehicle between the side sill sections,

(h) a pair of wheels mounted on each wheel axle means,

the wheels being located on the wheel axle means intermediate the side sill sections deiining a Wheel gauge for the vehicle which is narrower than the drop bottom door means extending between the side sill sections, and

(i) means mounting the wheel axle means below and on the end sill means including shock-absorbing connections means acting between the wheel axle means and the end sill means,

(j) the drop bottom door means and horizontally disposed doo-r axle means being connected to the vehicle independently of the wheel axle means and positioned so as not to interfere with operation of the wheels, Wheel axle means, and shock-absorbing connection means.

5. The conveying apparatus of claim 4 in which the track for supporting the vehicle during travel on its wheels and the wider gauge track means are longitudinally coextensive for a substantial distance in the direction of vehicle travel on at least one side of the dumping station with vertical spacing between the track for supportng the vehicle during travel on its wheels and the wider gauge track means progressively diminishing adjacent the dumping station for gradually shifting support of the vehicle from the track for supporting the Vehicle on its wheels to the wider gauge track means.

6. The conveying apparatus of claim 4 in which the wider gauge track means comprises support surfaces formed from a series of rollers aligned longitudinally in the direction of vehicle travel in a row along each side of the dumping station with each roller being mounted on an axis inclined downwardly at its end closest to the vehicle and including a radially extended flange at its end remote from the vehicle.

7. A drop bottom hopper-type wheeled vehicle cornprising (a) chassis means including main sill means in two sections with a section extending longitudinally along each side of the vehicle for supporting the Vehicle du-ring unloading, 'end sill means at each end of the vehicle, and transverse tie means rigidly interconnecting the two side sill sections and located intermediate the end sill means in spaced relationship with the end sill means,

(b) body means including sidewall means extending upwardly from the side sill sections and end wall means at each longitudinal end of the vehicle, the sidewall means and end wall means in combination with the transverse tie means defining an open bottom conguration for a vehicle,

(c) drop bottom door means for closing the open bott-om configuration of the vehicle, the drop bottom door means extending between the side sill sections and mounted for swinging movement about horizontally disposed door axle means connected to the vehicle and extending laterally of the vehicle between the side sill sections below the transverse tie means,

(d) wheel axle means extending laterally of the vehicle between the side sill sections,

(e) a pair of wheels mounted on each wheel axle means, the wheels being located on the wheel axle means intermediate the side sill sections dening a wheel gauge for the vehicle which is narrower than the drop bottom door means extending between the side sill sections, and

(f) means mounting the wheel axle means below and on the tranverse tie means including yshock-absorbing connection means acting between the wheel axle means and the transverse tie means,

(g) the drop bottom door means and horizontal disposed door axle means being connected to the vehicle independently of the wheel axle means and positioned so as not to interfere with operation of the wheels, wheel axle means, and shock-absorbing connection means.

8. The Vehicle of claim 7 in which the transverse tie means includes at least two members having a hood configuration extending laterally of the vehicle between the sidewall means Iof the vehicle in covering relationship to `the wheel axle means and the wheels.

9. The vehicle of claim 8 in which the drop bottom door means for closing the open bottom configuration of l@ the vehicle include a plurality of bottom doors each mounted for swinging movement about an individual horizontally disposed door axle extending laterally of the vehicle and interconnecting the side sill sections.

10. The vehicle lof claim 9 in which at least two transverse tie members are disposed within the body means in covering relationship to individual horizontally disposed door axles for at least two drop bottom doors.

11. The vehicle of claim 7 in which the shock-absorbing connection means includes spring means acting between the wheel axle means and the transverse tie means.

12. A drop bottom hopper-type wheeled vehicle comprising (a) chassis means including main sill means in two sections with a section extending longitudinally along each side of the vehicle for supporting the vehicie during unloading and end sill means at each end of the vehicle with the end sill means rigidly interconnecting the side sill sections,

(b) body means including sidewall means extending upwardly from the side sill sections and end wall means at each longitudinal end of the vehicle defining in combination with the sidewall means an open bottom configuration for the vehicle,

(c) drop bottom door means for closing the open bottom configuration of the vehicle, the drop bottom door means extending between the side sill sections and mounted for swinging movement about horizontally disposed door axle means connected to the vehicle and extending laterally of the vehicle between the side sill sections below the end sill means,

(d) wheel axle means extending laterally of the vehicle between the side sill sections,

(e) a pair of wheels mounted on each wheel axle means, the wheels being located on the wheel axle means intermediate the side sill sections defining a wheel gauge for the vehicle which is narrower than the drop bottom door means extending between the side sill sections, and

(f) means mounting the wheel axle means below and on the end sill means including shock-absorbing Connection means acting between the wheel axle means and the end sill means,

(g) the drop bottom door means and horizontally disposed door axle means being connected to the vehicle independently ofthe wheel axle means and positioned so as not to interfere with operation of the wheels, wheel axle means, and shock-absorbing connection means.

13. The vehicle of claim 12 further including coupler pivot means mounted on each end sill and located in spaced relationship along the vehicles longitudinal centerline above the wheel axle means, with the distance along the vehicles longitudinal `centerline between the end sill mounted coupler pivot means being no greater than the effective longitudinal wheel base of the vehicle.

14. The vehicle of claim 12 in which the drop bottom door means for closing the open configuration of the vehicle comprises a single drop bottom door mounted for swinging movement about horizontally disposed door axle means interconnecting the side sill sections.

15. A train of drop bottom hopper-type wheeled vehicles each vehicle comprising (a) chassis means including main sillv means in two sections with a section extending longitudinally along each side of the vehicle for supporting the vehicle during unloading, end sill means at each longitudinal end of the vehicle, and transverse tie means rigidly interconnecting the two side sill sections and located intermediate the end sill means in spaced relationship with the end sill means, (b.) coupler means connected to the chassis means at each longitudinal end of the vehicle, (c) body means including sidewall means extending upwardly from the side sill sections and an endwall at each longitudinal end of the vehicle, the sidewall 'means and endwalls in combination with the transverse tie means defining an open bottom configuration for the vehicle,

(d) `drop bottom door means for closing the open bot tom configuration of the vehicle, the drop bottom door means extending between the side sill sections and mounted for swinging movement about horizontally disposed door axle means connected to the vehicle and extending laterally of the vehicle between the side sill sections below the transverse tie means,

(e) wheel axle means extending laterally of the vehicle between the side sill sections,

(f) a pair of wheels mounted on each wheel axle means, the wheels being located on the wheel axle means intermediate the side sill sections defining a wheel gauge for the vehicle which is narrower than the drop bottom door means extending between the side sill sections, and

(g) means mounting the wheel axle means below and on the transverse tie means including shock-absorbing connection means acting between the wheel axle means and the transverse tie means,

(h) the drop bottom door means and horizontally disposed door axle means being connected to the vehicle independently of the wheel axle means and positioned so as not to interfere with operation of the wheels, wheel axle means, and shock-absorbing connection means,

(i) the vehicles being interconnected in tandem relationship by the coupler means at adjacent ends of the vehicles with adjacent endwalls of the vehicles being disposed in overlapping relationship.

16. A train of drop bottom hopper-type wheeled vehicles comprising (a) chassis means including main sill means in two sections with a section extending longitudinally along each side of the vehicle for supporting the vehicle during unloading and end sill means at longitudinal each end of the vehicle with the end sill means rigidly interconnecting the side sill sections,

(b) coupler means connected to the end'sill means at each longitudinal end of the vehicle,

(c) body means including sidewall means extending upwardly from the side sill sections and an endwall at each longitudinal end of the vehicle defining in combination with the sidewall means an open bottom configuration for the vehicle,

(d) drop bottom door means for closing the open bottom configuration of the vehicle, the drop bottom door means extending between the side sill sections and mounted for swinging movement about horizontally disposed door axle means connected to the vehicle and extending laterally of the vehicle between the side sill sections below the end sill means,

(e) wheel axle means extending laterally of the vehicle between the sill sections,

(f) a pair of wheels mounted on each wheel axle means, the wheels being located on the wheel axle means intermediate the side sill sections defining a wheel gauge for the vehicle which is narrower than the drop bottom door means extending between the side sill sections,l and (g) means mounting the Wheel axle means below and on the end sill means including shock-absorbing connection means acting between the wheel axle means and the end sill means,

(h) the drop bottom door means and horizontally disposed door axle means being connected to the vehicle independently of the wheel axle means and positioned so as not to interfere withvoperation of the wheels, wheel axle, means, and shock-absorbing connection means,

21 (i) the vehicles being interconnected in tandem relationship by the coupler means at adjacent ends of the vehicle with adjacent endwalls of the vehicles being disposed in overlapping relationship.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 296,026 4/1884 Mark 213-8 874,576 12/ 1907 Dodds 10S-253 881,884 3/1908 Dodds 10S-253 928,286 7/ 1909 Stoltzfus et al 244-62 1,193,486 8/1916 Krakau 213-3 1,412,869 4/ 1922 Holstein. 1,508,123 9/1924 Ramsay 10S-364 1,536,789 5/1925 Griffith 214-63 1,602,015 10/1926 Griffith 214-63 1,778,828 10/1930 Field.

22 Sanford 10S-346 X Grifth 10S-364 Kepner 105-364 Cornelius 214-58 Pancake 10S-364 Boyd 10S-364 Berg 214--63 Harbulak 105-4 Flowers 105-4 France.

ARTHUR L. LA POINT, Primary Examiner.

15 JAMES S. SHANK, LEO QUACKENBUSH, ENGENE G. BOTZ, MILTON BUCHLER, Examiners. 

1. CONVEYING AND UNLOADING STRUCTURE COMPRISING (A) TRACK FOR SUPPORTING A VEHICLE DURING TRAVEL ON ITS WHEELS TO A DUMPING STATION, (B) WIDER GUAGE TRACK MEANS ON WHICH THE VEHICLE TRAVELS THROUGH THE DUMPING STATION, AND (C) A DROP BOTTOM HOPPER-TYPE WHEELED VEHICLE HAVING (D) CHASSIS MEANS INCLUDING MAIN SILL MEANS IN TWO SECTIONS WITH A SECTION EXTENDING LONGITUDINALLY ALONG EACH SIDE OF THE VEHICLE FOR SUPPORTING THE VEHICLE ON THE WIDER GAUGE TRACK MEANS DURING TRAVEL THROUGH THE DUMPING STATION, END SILL MEANS AT LONGITUDINAL END OF THE VEHICLE, AND TRANSVERSE TIE MEANS RIGIDLY INTERCONNECTING THE TWO SIDE SILL SECTIONS AND LOCATED INTERMEDIATE THE END SILL MEANS IN SPACED RELATIONSHIP WITH THE END SILL MEANS, (E) BODY MEANS INCLUDING SIDEWALL EXTENDING UPWARDLY FROM THE SIDE SILL SECTIONS AND ENDWALL MEANS AT EACH LONGITUDINAL END OF THE VEHICLE, THE SIDEWALL MEANS AND ENDWALL MEANS IN COMBINATION WITH THE TRANSVERSE TIE MEANS DEFINING AN OPEN BOTTOM CONFIGURATION OF THE VEHICLE, (F) DROP BOTTOM DOOR MEANS FOR CLOSING THE OPEN BOTTOM CONFIGURATION OF THE VEHICLE THE DROP BOTTOM DOR MEANS EXTENDING EBTWEEN THE SIDE SILL SECTIONS AND MOUNTED FOR SWINGING MOVEMENT ABOUT HORIZONTALLY DISPOSED DOOR AXLE MEANS CONNECTED TO THE VEHICLE AND EXTENDING LATERALLY OF THE VEHICLE BETWEEN THE SIDE SILL SECTIONS BELOW THE TRANSVERS TIE MENS, (G) WHEEL AXLE MEANS EXTENDING LATERALLY OF THE VEHICLE BETWEEN THE SIDE SILL SECTIONS, (H) A PAIR OF WHEELS MOUNTED ON EACH WHEEL AXLE MEANS, THE WHEELS BEING LOCATED ON THE WHEEL AXLE MEANS INTERMEDIATE THE SIDE SILL SECTIONS DEFINING A WHEEL GAUGE FOR THE VEHICLE WHICH IS NARROWER THAN THE DROP BOTTOM DOOR MEANS EXTENDING BETWEEN THE SIDE SILL SECTIONS, AND (I) MEANS MOUNTING THE WHEEL AXLE MEANS BELOW AND ON THE TRANSVERSE TIE MEANS INCLUDING SHOCK-ABSORBING CONNECTION MEANS ACTING BETWEEN THE WHEEL AXLE MEANS AND THE TRANSVERSE TIE MEANS, (J) THE DROP BOTTOMDOOR MEANS AND HORIZONTALLY DISPOSED DOOR AXLE MEANS BEING CONNECTED TO THE VEHICLE INDEPENDENTLY OF THE WHEEL AXLE MEANS AND POSITIONED SO AS TO NOT TO INTERFERE WITH OPERATION OF THE WHEELS, WHEEL AXLE MEANS, AND SHOCK-ABSORBING CONNECTION MEANS.
 7. A DROP BOTTOM HOPPER-TYPE WHEELED VEHICLE COMPRISING (A) CHASSIS MEANS INCLUDING MAIN SILL MEANS IN TWO SECTIONS WITH A SECTION EXTENDING LONGITUDINALLY ALONG EACH SIDE OF THE VEHICLE FOR SUPPORTING THE VEHICLE DURING UNLOADING, END SILL MEANS AT EACH END OF THE VEHICLE, AND TRANSVERSE TIE MEANS RIGIDLY INTERCONNECTING THE TWO SIDE SILL SECTIONS AND LOCATED INTERMEDIATE THE END SILL MEANS IN SPACED RELATIONSHIP WITH THE END SILL MEANS, (B) BODY MEANS INCLUDING SIDEWALL MEANS EXTENDING UPWARDLY FROM THE SIDE SILL SECTIONS AND END WALL MEANS AT EACH LONGITUDINAL END OF THE VEHICLE, THE SIDEWALL MEANS AND END WALL MEANS IN COMBINATION WITH THE TRANSVERSE TIE MEANS DEFINING AN OPEN BOTTOM CONFIGURATION FOR A VEHICLE, (C) DROP BOTTOM DOOR MEANS FOR CLOSING THE OPEN BOTTOM CONFIGURATION OF THE VEHICLE, THE DROP BOTTOM DOOR MEANS EXTENDING BETWEEN THE SIDE SILL SECTIONS AND MOUNTED FOR SWINGING MOVEMENT ABOUT HORIZONTALLY DISPOSED DOOR AXLE MEANS CONNECTED TO THE VEHICLE AND EXTENDING LATERALLY OF THE VEHICLE BETWEEN THE SIDE SILL SECTIONS BELOW THE TRANSVERSE TIE MEANS, (D) WHEEL AXLE MEANS EXTENDING LATERALLY OF THE VEHICLE BETWEEN THE SIDE SILL SECTIONS, (E) A PAIR OF WHEELS MOUNTED ON EACH WHEEL AXLE MEANS, THE WHEELS BEING LOCATED ON THE WHEEL AXLE MEANS INTERMEDIATE THE SIDE SILL SECTIONS DEFINING A WHEEL GAUGE FOR THE VEHICLE WHICH IS NARROWER THAN THE DROP BOTTOM DOOR MEANS EXTENDING BETWEEN THE SIDE SILL SECTIONS, AND (F) MEANS MOUNTING THE WHEEL AXLE MEANS BELOW AND ON THE TRANSVERSE TIE MEANS INCLUDING SHOCK-ABSORBING CONNECTION MEANS ACTING BETWEEN THE WHEEL AXLE MEANS AND THE TRANSVERSE TIE MEANS, (G) THE DROP BOTTOM DOOR MEANS AND HORIZONTAL DISPOSED DOOR AXLE MEANS BEING CONNECTED TO THE VEHICLE INDEPENDENTLY OF THE WHEEL AXLE MEANS AND POSITIONED SO AS NOT TO INTERFERE WITH OPERATION OF THE WHEELS, WHEEL AXLE MEANS, AND SHOCK-ABSORBING CONNECTION MEANS.
 15. A TRAIN OF DROP BOTTOM HOPPER-TYPE WHEELED VEHICLES EACH VEHICLE COMPRISING (A) CHASSIS MEANS INCLUDING MAIN SILL MEANS IN TWO SECTIONS WITH A SECTION EXTENDING LONGITUDINALLY ALONG EACH SIDE OF THE VEHICLE FOR SUPPORTING THE VEHICLE DURING UNLOADING, END SILL MEANS AT EACH LONGITUDINAL END OF THE VEHICLE, AND TRANSVERSE TIE MEANS RIGIDLY INTERCONNECTING THE TWO SIDE SILL SECTIONS AND LOCATED INTERMEDIATE THE END SILL MEANS IN SPACED RELATIONSHIP WITH THE END SILL MEANS, (B) COUPLER MEANS CONNECTED TO THE CHASSIS MEANS AT EACH LONGITUDINAL END OF THE VEHICLE, (C) BODY MEANS INCLUDING SIDEWALL MEANS EXTENDING 